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The chief purpose of government is to protect life. Abandon that and you have abandoned all.

Thomas Jefferson

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Thomas Jefferson
Age: 83 †
Born: 1743
Born: April 2
Died: 1826
Died: July 4
3Rd U.S. President
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President Jefferson
T. Jefferson
Government
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Abandoned
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Abandon
Protect
Purpose

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No man will ever bring out of that office the reputation which carries him into it. The honeymoon would be as short in that case as in any other, and its moments of ecstasy would be ransomed by years of torment and hatred.
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Every experience deeply felt in life needs to be passed along. Wheather it be through words and music, chiseled in stone, painted with a brush, or sewn with a needle, it is a way of reaching for immortality.
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What we learn to do, we learn by doing.
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It will be said that great societies cannot exist without government.
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I have no ambition to govern men it is a painful and thankless office.
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No race of kings has ever presented above one man of common sense in twenty generations.
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When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles every other correction is either useless or a new evil.
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No man has greater confidence than I have in the spirit of the people, to a rational extent. Whatever they can, they will.
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The opinions and beliefs of men follow involuntarily the evidence proposed to their minds.
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There is no justification for taking away individuals' freedom in the guise of public safety.
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The olive tree is surely the richest gift of Heaven. I can scarcely expect bread.
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My views and feelings (are) in favor of the abolition of war-and I hope it is practicable, by improving the mind and morals of society, to lessen the disposition to war but of its abolition I despair.
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With earnest prayers to all my friends to cherish mutual good will, to promote harmony and conciliation, and above all things to let the love of our country soar above all minor passions, I tender you the assurance of my affectionate esteem and respect.
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I am conscious that an equal division of property is impracticable, but the consequences of this enormous inequality producing so much misery to the bulk of mankind, legislators cannot invent too many devices for subdividing property.
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If the obstacles of bigotry and priestcraft can be surmounted, we may hope that common sense will suffice to do everything else.
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I know nothing more important to inculcate into the minds of young people than the wisdom, the honor, and the blessed comfort of living within their income.
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We never repent of having eaten too little.
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